


lost in the dark

by inthepasttense



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Dissociation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26471395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthepasttense/pseuds/inthepasttense
Summary: “Its just that… now that you´re explaining the proyect to me once more, I…  feel like…” the boy stammered, and flamed the old mans annoyance, because of it.“Do i look like a man who hesitates boy? Out with it!”The kid swallowed and took a deep breath, then almost stumbled on his words as he said them, with how fast they were falling out of his mouth.“You dont have to die. You can remain here while i take care of everything, and nothing else in the plan needs to change.”Madara didnt answer immediately, and the silence that followed made the boy swallow once more, expectant.
Relationships: Uchiha Madara & Uchiha Obito
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	lost in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> This if my first published fic! Hopefully it wont be the last...? Anyway I feel like there aren´t enough works that focus on the relationship between Obito and Madara, and thats a shame because I think its very interesting and i wish we would´ve gotten more than four episodes of their time in the cave in shippuden.  
> Im following cannon, so of course the relationship is horribly unbalanced in Madaras favour, and at this point in the story (after Rins death) he had Obito completely at his mercy. I wanted to explore that.

“Is it really necessary for you to die?”  
“What?” Madara said, startled and annoyed at his interruption. The boy shifted uneasily on his feet. Madara hadn´t even expected him to respond to his instructions, and had been pleased since it made everything easier for him. Now it looked like that wasn´t going to be the case. He shouldn´t have been surprised, he thought as he looked at the boy trying to find the courage to continue. Ever since his little trip to the outside had finally opened his eyes to the reality of their world the kid had been growing more and more restless. Hed been quiet at first, gaze drifting of into the distance as he sat on the floor for hours on end, hands occasionally twitching. Incoherent sobbing had followed, at first annoyingly loud, but after being made aware of that fact hed turned his back to Madara and tried to control his breath and swallow his hiccups. His knuckles had been bitten bloody because of that, but the kids only response to it had been staring at the blood with that empty look once more, seemingly entranced with the flow and the drops that fell, and shaking.  
So of course it shouldn´t have been surprising, that hed eventually let all those emotions translate into pathetic cries for confort. Madara already knew what hed meant with that question, but hed listen it out in hopes that the kid would realise his latest mistake, and correct it, though he sincerely doubted it. Theres still a lot of work to be done, he thought as the boy finally spoke.  
“Its just that… now that you´re explaining the proyect to me once more, I… feel like…” the boy stammered, and flamed the old mans annoyance, because of it.  
“Do i look like a man who hesitates boy? Out with it!”  
The kid swallowed and took a deep breath, then almost stumbled on his words as he said them, with how fast they were falling out of his mouth.  
“You dont have to die. You can remain here while i take care of everything, and nothing else in the plan needs to change.”  
Madara didnt answer immediately, and the silence that followed made the boy swallow once more, expectant.  
“There is no purpose in me remaining alive” he finally said.  
“You could provide me with guidance, or-“  
At that Madara laughed out loud and pierced the boy with his eye as he stiffened. His ability to fan the flames of my annoyance has unfortunately remained intact after his return.  
“Do you think a man like me needs guidance?” he snapped  
“No, but-“  
“Then thats the only answer you should seek! From now until i tell you, you should always think about what i would say, think, feel or do, and act accordingly!”  
The boy paused to think about what had been said for a few seconds, but it was clear that the answer hadn´t been what he´d hoped. His face twisted with anxiety, with a flicker of frustration that he immediately hid away in fear of the old man noticing. He took a few shaky breaths and almost managed to make his voice not shake when he continued.  
“ Its just that… i feel like-“  
“Spit it out boy, unless you want to burn through all the patience that ill give you!” Madara snapped. The kid flinched, and the old man felt those flames roar; he opened his mouth to correct that unacceptable sign of weakness, but this time he wasn´t even fast enough to be interrupted.  
“Its just that, if you dont die, then i wouldnt… i wouldnt be…”  
Alone.  
“Enough” said Madara, and the boy flinched again and said no more.  
The old man took a moment to look at him as he waited, cursing fate for the hundredth time for sending such a weakling to his aid. It must be a test to your convinction; a challenge to see if you can purge that weakness.  
“We have nothing” he finally said  
The boy took a moment to measure the words, and, because he was a fool, was unable to understand them.  
“What do you mean-?”  
Madara took a sharp breath that made his bones creak unpleasantly, and slowly expelled it, in an attempt to disperse the ashes of the patience the kids ignorance had left behind.  
“There is no bond between us, you stupid child.”  
The boy gaped at him like a moron, genuine surprise marking his features. His mouth opened, and closed, he swallowed again, and again opened his mouth.  
“Oh” was all he could say.  
Madaras eye twitched briefly, as he continued.  
“Dont look at me like that. You must remember, I´m not your father, nor your master and im most certainly not even your friend. How could I, since you are to be me? Thats what you are always to keep in mind, boy, for as long as the mission is incomplete.”  
The boys eye widened as he heard these things, and then his gaze fell down to the floor, pensive. There was a flicker of some violent emotion in his eye, the same one that had fueled him into annihilating dozens of elite shinobi in a matter of seconds and that had still been reflected alongside bleeding despair in the red and black of his eye on his return from his failed rescue, but that emotion vanished the second it appeared it as if it had never existed. Good. With that, he raised his head and looked at the old man with the cold detachment their clan had always learned how to perfect.  
“Im aware of that”, he said, “I wont make that same mistake again.”  
“You also wont interrupt me again. Speak when I address you or not at all. Is that clear?”  
“Yes”  
“Good. You´ll have to learn the discipline I learned for your act to be believable.”  
And as Madara resumed his explanations, he felt the gaze of the creatures that shared their cave on them, in silent judgement.


End file.
